Whether your kids have questions about race or you want to teach them about Juneteenth itself, here are some great books to read year-round.
‘Opal Lee and What It Means to Be Free: The True Story of the Grandmother of Juneteenth,’ by Alice Faye Duncan, illustrated by Keturah A. Bobo
A poetic tale published in 2022 based on the true story of Texan Opal Lee, 96, known as “The Grandmother of Juneteenth,” who long championed June 19 as a national holiday and finally saw her dream come true in 2021.
Buddy, a boy at a Juneteenth celebration enjoying barbecue and live music, asks his great-grandmother, Opal Lee, about the story behind the holiday. She tells a group of children the story: “Once upon a blazing sun, black bodies were bought and sold like cattle. . . . Slavery was a thief. American slavery dragged on like a plague until Jan. 1, 1863. … However, Texas was big and many miles away from Mr. Lincoln. White masters defied his words” until June 19, 1865, when, General Gordon Granger marched through Galveston with the news. “Singing filled the air. Happy tears rolled down like rain.”
But that wasn’t a happily-ever-after moment. Buddy then asks Opal about Juneteenth when she was a girl. She recalls the days of segregation. “My saddest season started on Juneteenth, 1939,″ when an angry mob “afraid of Black progress” burned down her family’s new house.
‘Build a House,’ by Rhiannon Giddens, illustrated by Monica Mikai
Grammy-winner Rhiannon Giddens originally wrote “Build a House” as a song to commemorate the 155th anniversary of Juneteenth, and she later performed it with Yo-Yo Ma. Here, with illustrations by Monica Mikai, it’s a stunning story. In the book, published by Somerville-based Candlewick Press in 2022, the singer-songwriter delivers a powerful tale for people of all ages.
‘The Juneteenth Story: Celebrating the End of Slavery in the United States,’ by Alliah L. Agostini, illustrated by Sawyer Cloud
Alliah L. Agostini writes: “On July 4, 1776, Independence Day, America broke away from British rule … but not everyone who lived there was that fortunate …It would take 89 more years until enslaved people, too, would be free.”
‘A Flag for Juneteenth,’ by Kim Taylor
With “A Flag for Juneteenth” (2023), debut author Kim Taylor uses her skills as an expert quilter to illustrate the story. Readers are introduced to Huldah, a girl whose 10th birthday falls on June 19, 1865. “Dusty soldiers crowded into the little corner of the Texas plantation where we lived” with a booming announcement of freedom. “[C]heers, louder than the loudest thunder! … We didn’t know it, but President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation more than two years earlier … people prayed, sang, and cried quiet tears of joy.”
‘Free at Last: A Juneteenth Poem,’ by Sojourner Kincaid Rolle, illustrated by Alex Bostic
Told in free-verse by poet Rolle — and with moving illustrations by Bostic — the poem tells how enslaved people, “leaving shackles where they fell on the ground,” took off for new lives. “Some went no further than the shack out back,” others fled “as far as they could thrusting their futures into sanctuary and unknown friendless territory.”
‘The History of Juneteenth: A History Book for New Readers,’ by Arlisha Norwood, illustrated by Sawyer Cloud
For children ages 6-9, reach for historian Arlisha Norwood’s illustrated chapter book “The History of Juneteenth: A History Book for New Readers.” There are timelines, milestones, key terms, plus captivating illustrations and prompts for discussion.
‘What Is Juneteenth?’ by Kirsti Jewel, illustrated by Manuel Gutierrez
The New York Times best-selling middle-grades series of “What Was” books — which cover everything from “What was the Donner Party?” to “What Is the AIDS Crisis?” — offers “What Is Juneteenth?” by Kirsti Jewel, illustrated by Manuel Gutierrez.
‘All Different Now: Juneteenth, the First Day of Freedom,’ by Angela Johnson, illustrated by E.B. Lewis
“All Different Now: Juneteenth, the First Day of Freedom,” by Angela Johnson, with stunning illustrations by E.B. Lewis, is told from the point of view of an enslaved girl. As word spreads from Galveston into the countryside, her family learns they’re free. She watches her aunt sing and hold her baby; Mr. Jake, an old man, weeps quietly.
‘Juneteenth for Mazie,’ by Floyd Cooper
Floyd Cooper’s “Juneteenth for Mazie” is about a modern-day girl, Mazie, who wants to know why people are celebrating. Her dad tells her that enslaved people like her great-great-great-grandpa Mose “sweat, they bled, and they cried till those cries were quieted by a single proclamation. … Mose heard that proclamation read from the balcony of the hotel on that warm June day in Galveston, Texas. … But things weren’t perfect. Black people still struggled to stand shoulder to shoulder with white people. They still weren’t treated as equals.”
‘Our Skin: A First Conversation About Race,’ by Megan Madison and Jessica Ralli, illustrated by Isabel Roxas
This book gets straight to the heart of the matter, for kids and adults: “We get our color from something smart inside our bodies called melanin that protects our skin from the sun. … Skin color can’t tell you much about what people are like. … A long time ago, way before you were born, a group of white people made up an idea called race. They sorted people by skin color and said that white people were better… That isn’t true or fair at all! But it’s a story that has been told for a long time.”
‘Antiracist Baby,’ by Ibram X. Kendi, illustrated by Ashley Lukashevsky
Ibram X. Kendi, director of the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research and National Book Award-winner, delivers key lessons for the tiniest humans — and their parents — in this New York Times bestseller list board book. “Antiracist Baby is bred, not born.”
‘The 1619 Project: Born on the Water,’ by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renée Watson, illustrated by Nikkolas Smith
“The 1619 Project: Born on the Water,” by Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones, Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Award winner Renée Watson, and illustrated by NAACP Image Award nominee Nikkolas Smith, is a gorgeously illustrated must-read. When a girl can only trace her family history back three generations, her grandmother explains that her ancestors’ story “does not begin with whips and chains. They had a home, a place, a land, a beginning.” The best-selling book picked up a slew of accolades, including NPR Best Book of 2021, Time magazine Best Children’s Book of 2021, and School Library Journal Best Nonfiction Book of 2021.
‘Freewater,’ by Amina Luqman-Dawson
“Freewater,” Amina Luqman-Dawson’s New York Times bestseller is a moving story of two enslaved children, Homer and Ana, escaping a plantation. Luqman-Dawson is also a Coretta Scott King Author Award winner (2022).
Lauren Daley can be reached at ldaley33@gmail.com. Follow her on Twitter @laurendaley1.